What is Manufactured Spend, and Can it be Achieved in the UK?

Manufactured Spending in the UK

Manufactured spending occurs when an individual tries to liquidate funds by purchasing a gift card, money order and other items with a credit card that offers miles or points as an incentive. The purpose is to try to pay off the purchase using miles or points to pay back the credit card that was used to purchase the items initially.

Most Common Procedures

The process of manufactured spending has two main procedures. In the first step, you have to meet the spending requirements that the card issuer requires for you to get bonus points in the form of a signup bonus or some other equally lucrative incentive. The next step involves accruing points without spending too much money. Manufactured spending requires a good amount of research to conduct properly.

In all instances of manufactured spending, you’re taking on credit to receive some sort of benefit. Once you have a credit card, you can then purchase gift cards with the card that offers some sort of incentive. You might get 3 percent cash back from one card and 50,000 airline miles on another card. Ideally, the credit card will also have some sort of benefit. Using these three cards, you’re able to rack up more value in offers and flights than you could by simply spending cash with no incentives.

Once you’ve racked up your incentives, you then have to liquidate your cards to receive the cash that you put down initially. That cash is then used to pay off the credit card.

Manufactured Spending in the UK

It should be possible to use manufactured spending in the UK. You’ll need to have a credit card that offers some sort of reward in return for making purchases. Once you have the credit card, you can use it to buy any gift card that offers the ability to get cash back. The cards that require you to sign up for an account to access your funds online tend to have the best value associated with them.

There are many merchant processing services available now that make it possible to use a debit card or gift card to send money to friends and family. This can be a suitable method for liquidating the funds once you’ve racked up your rewards.

Final Considerations

As with all endeavours that involve money, you have to weigh the pros and cons of your specific situation. There are risks associated with manufactured spending. Your bank could shut your account down if they think you’re doing something suspicious.